Politics of Germany

 The business wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on Saturday vowed to block certain projects included in this week's coalition agreement with the Social Democrats (SPD), as tensions roiled both political blocs, Reuters reported. 

The shock decision comes after senior members of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) pressured their leader in to waiving the post of foreign minister. 

It comes after Angela Merkel's conservatives and the SPD agreed to form a coalition government on Wednesday.

Exploratory talks to form Germany's next coalition government collapsed shortly before midnight on Sunday when the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) walked out of marathon negotiations, The Guardian reports.

Olaf Scholz, the mild-mannered, pragmatic mayor of Hamburg, could become Germany's next finance minister.

If he does, he would step into the giant shoes left by Wolfgang Schaeuble, the fiscally hawkish and larger-than-life veteran of German politics who now presides over the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat (SPD) who is mayor of Hamburg, is set to become German Finance Minister in a new coalition government with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, German news agency DPA reported on Wednesday.

Top Social Democrat (SPD) negotiators said on Feb. 7 via social media that they had reached a deal with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on forming a new coalition government.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) negotiated through the night into Wednesday in a marathon final push to nail down a new coalition agreement, according to Reuters. 

Negotiators from the two blocs remained locked in talks at the headquarters of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), where they began meeting at 10 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Tuesday.

Negotiators for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) reconvened on Monday to hammer out compromises on healthcare and labor policy, the stumbling blocks in the way of another "grand coalition."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) reached agreement on energy and agriculture on Feb. 3, but were still in dispute over healthcare during talks to form a government, more than four months after the election.

Chancellor Angela Merkel called Jan. 26 for a quick end to the last stretch of tortuous negotiations to forge a government for Germany, in a race against time to stop her power slipping away at home and abroad.